Embodiments of the invention relate to vehicle control systems, and more particularly to a vehicle control system to deploy an occupant restraint device.
Restraint devices such as airbags and seatbelts are, in general, actuated during crashes or possible crashes to protect vehicle occupants from injury. The accuracy and timeliness of deployment and actuation are factors in the effectiveness of restraint devices.
Some restraint devices are controlled using algorithms that process accelerations measured in various locations of a motor vehicle. The measured accelerations are analyzed using various functions such as integration (to yield velocity), a sum of squares of the measured accelerations, slopes of the measured accelerations, and the like. The outputs of the functions are compared to thresholds that may be constant, depending on factors such as time or physical properties like relative velocity. If the thresholds are crossed, restraint devices are deployed.